Reggie McKenzie says he knew the Raiders were going to be worse than they were last season. The first-year general manager didn't say that in the preseason, because "Rebuilding" and "Call for tickets" don't look great next to each other on a billboard.

The current billboards aren't working either. Oakland is 3-8 after four straight ugly - bad-plastic-surgery-website ugly - losses, and Sunday's game against Cleveland did not sell out and will be blacked out on local television. It's the first time in 14 home games that's happened.

The Raiders were coming off back-to-back 8-8 seasons, and there are a lot of reasons they're 3-8. Fans don't want to hear it, but McKenzie said at the top of the list is the mess he inherited from late owner Al Davis.

Bad contracts, bad draft picks and traded-away draft picks lead to a team with no depth. And teams with no depth have to keep playing starters who are struggling.

"We were millions and millions over the salary cap. ... What happened this offseason I don't wish that on anybody ... maybe the other teams in our division," McKenzie said. "That was a struggle, especially coming in here as a rookie GM."

McKenzie remembers talking to Packers general manager Ted Thompson about it this summer. "His rookie year he was able to get Charles Woodson," McKenzie said. "I would have liked to have done that."

"I knew where the talent level was, and I knew we didn't have depth to lose players, not one, because I knew it was going to be a drop-off," McKenzie said. "That's without a doubt. But to be where we are now, at 3-8, (is) disappointing.

"I know the fans are not happy, I'm not happy, the coaches, the players are not happy."

McKenzie talked Friday about how the players aren't making enough plays, but he is also evaluating the coaching staff for next season. While McKenzie said he is pleased with coach Dennis Allen, his coordinators may be on the hot seat. The offense can't run the ball, score in the first quarter or score touchdowns inside the 20-yard line, and the defense has allowed opponents to score an absurd 169 points in the past four games.

"(We) give teams stuff," McKenzie said. "We're not good enough to just give them big plays like that."

Coordinators Greg Knapp (offense), Jason Tarver (defense) and the rest of the assistants will be evaluated at the end of the season. And McKenzie will have more input on Allen's staff than he did last year.

"This is my football team," McKenzie said. "It's not a dictatorship by any means, but it's my football team and I'm responsible. We have a great line of communication, so that's not going to be an issue, guys, at all. It really isn't. It's my job to evaluate the situation, and I'm going to get that done."

The Raiders are 29th in the league in rushing (83 yards a game) after finishing seventh last season (132), as the new zone blocking scheme, or ZBS, has been a disaster. Oakland has used more power runs the past seven games, but Allen and Knapp are partial to the ZBS.

McKenzie is open to whatever works, and he does not think the team's failure to establish the running game is tied to how the blockers are supposed to move together in the ZBS.

"Whether it's power scheme, zone scheme, to me it's all about knocking people off the ball, winning battles up front," he said. "I don't care what kind of scheme it is. Players have got to win some battles too, physically."

Which is why McKenzie has no regrets about letting Allen hire Knapp, as opposed to just keeping Al Saunders on as offensive coordinator and keeping the offense as it was last season.

"When you're talking about leaving the offense be, you're talking about leaving all the coaches be and ... you're saying that's going to guarantee the same results," McKenzie said. "You don't know that."

And you don't know how free agent signees are going to work out. While McKenzie seemed to get an underpriced winner in linebacker Philip Wheeler, he has missed big so far on right guard Mike Brisiel. Brisiel was signed to a five-year, $20 million deal because of his success in the zone blocking scheme in Houston, and he has really struggled.

Besides poor play, there's also been a leadership void, another area that McKenzie will be looking at these last five games - now the most crucial in his evaluation process.

"(I want to see) who really wants to play, who really wants to be a Raider, who's going to play Raider football," McKenzie said. "I'm talking each and every one of us, coaches and players."

Browns at Raiders

1:25 p.m., 105.3 FM

Spotlight on: Middle linebacker Omar Gaither. The free agent signed two weeks ago, and now he steps into the starting lineup for suspended/ineffective Rolando McClain. Gaither is constantly talking, so maybe that will carry over and improve the team's communication on the field. The Raiders will have to be on the same page and plugging the right gaps to stop Cleveland rookie RB Trent Richardson. He is averaging 101.8 yards rushing per game over the past four and has also caught 41 passes for 316 yards this season.

The big 3

-- The Browns have lost 12 straight road games, starting with last year's defeat in Oakland.

-- Carson Palmer hopes to bounce back from his worst game of the season, and if the stormy weather doesn't make it impossible, he should. Cleveland is 21st against the pass, and its secondary is beat up. Palmer is 9-3 all-time against the Browns, completing 62 percent of his passes with 25 TDs and 14 interceptions for a 90.6 passer rating.

-- Oakland has three points and four turnovers on the first possession of its games, while allowing 38 points on opponents' first possessions.